CategoriesProgram Design Strength Training

Introducing My Deadlift Specialization Program: Pick Things Up and Put Them Down

Name a celebrity – any celebrity – and it’s not hard to list off a handful or a few dozen adjectives or associations often tethered to them like white on rice or a ball to a chain.

Jennifer Lopez: fashion icon, badonkadonk, the impetus behind the media’s fascination with coming up with corny nicknames whenever two famous people start dating:  Bennifer (back in the day when she and Ben Affleck dated).

Matt Damon: Jason Bourne, Boston, my best friend (he just doesn’t know it).

Miley Cyrus: shock value, famous dad, and of course, twerking.

Matthew McConaughey: cowboy, free spirit, and his incessant use of the phrase, “well, alright, alright, alright.”

Everyone can be described in the same vein. We all have words, phrases, and associations that people automatically identify or link our name to. Take me for example. While I’d love to sit here and pretend that whenever the name Tony Gentilcore is uttered people gravitate towards words like intelligent, witty, charming, and People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive…I know that that’s wishful thinking.

Instead, a more accurate portrayal is something like this: “Tony Gentilcore? Hahahaha. Isn’t that the fitness dude with a funny last name, who’s bald, drives an Elantra, and talks about his cat a lot?”

Ding, ding, ding, ding. Nailed it!!!!

Well, all of that is true. But self deprecating humor aside and given the theme of this website is “because heavy things won’t lift themselves,” I think you’d also be hard pressed to see my name mentioned somewhere and not notice one word in particular following suit:

Deadlifts

I love deadlifts. I love deadlifts almost as much as I love ice-cream.

I think what I love most about the deadlift is that in the most primal way, and as cheesy and cliche as it sounds, it’s literally you vs. the bar.

You can’t cheat the deadlift. Either you lift the bar off the floor and lock it out, or you don’t. It’s without question one of the best movements to build muscle, overall strength, and athleticism, in addition to helping “fix stuff.”  And by that what I mean is the deadlift is an excellent corrective exercise.

Correct movement is corrective.

I always laugh whenever someone chimes in with a comment like “deadlifts are going to make your spine explode” or something equally as idiotic.

These are the same people who believe squats ruin people’s knees, bench pressing destroys everyone’s shoulders, pilates builds “long & lean muscles,” and that I rode into work this morning on a unicorn.

For all intents and purposes, we might as well never load anyone and just make people lay in bed all day in zero gravity so that they won’t exert their body in any way.

What’s more, what I also love about the deadlift is its versatility. I can tweak, regress, and progress the movement based off one’s current goals, needs, injury history, and experience level.

And it’s on that note I want to introduce something I feel is going to help a lot of people:

My Deadlift Specialization Program: Pick Things Up and Put Them Down

Many like to deadlift, and that’s great. It makes me happy. Unfortunately, when it comes to getting better at it – and subsequently lifting more weight – many don’t understand how to design a well-rounded, specific, properly progressed, and safe program to get the job done.

Well, I do.

I’ve partnered with my friends at WeightTraining.com to offer a new FOUR-month Deadlift Specialization Program.

How does this program differ from many of the other one’s you can follow?

1. I wrote it. So there’s that.

2. Unlike a lot (not all) of the programs you can find on the internet, I not only practice what I preach (HERE’s a video of me pulling 3x bodyweight), but I actually train people. Like, in real life. I don’t just write about it.

Much of this program is based off protocols and concepts I use with many of the athletes and clients I train on a daily basis.

3. In partnering with WeightTraining.com on my Deadlift Specialization Program, the platform itself is its own unique experience:

  • 24/7/365 Access: Once purchased, you will always have access to the program.
  • Schedule & Receive Workout Reminders: You will be able to schedule the workout program on your calendar and will automatically receive workout reminders every day you have a scheduled workout.
  • Easy Logging with Scheduled Workouts: Your scheduled workouts will automatically come up within your workout logger making it very easy for you to see your workout for the day and log your progress.

  • Available on the web, iOS, & Android devices: The workout program will be available on all of the WeightTraining.com apps allowing you to take your workout into the gym with you on your phone for easy viewing and logging.**NOTE:  the app for the Android will be available starting later this week!
  • Printable Workouts: If you still like taking a piece of paper into the gym, you will have access to the printable version of the entire workout program and individual workouts.
  • Automatically Track Progress, Records, and Totals: You will receive your own personal profile where your logged workouts will automatically track your progress, records, and overall totals.
  • Video Exercise Demonstrations: If you do not know how to do an exercise, don’t worry. You will have an exercise video demonstration for every exercise within the workout program.
Here’s a quick video explaining all the advantages:

I know what some of you may be thinking: $49 for one month of programming ($196 if you decide to follow all four months)!?! What the heck Gentilcore!

Consider I charge $279 (and up) for one month of individualized distance coaching. Here you’re getting FOUR MONTHS for less than it would cost for ONE if you were a personal distance coaching client of mine, and you get the ease of using the WT.com platform.

To help sweeten the pot I’ve decided to offer a limited time discount code for 30% off the first month.

To take advantage of this offer all you need to do is type IncreaseDeadlift30 within the Coupon Code area upon checkout. It’s that easy.

This offer is only going to be available for 48 hours (through this Wednesday, September 10th), so I’d act quick if I were you. Are you ready to dealift!?!?

—> Pick Things Up and Put Them Down Program <—

CategoriesFat Loss Strength Training

The Tenets of Fat Loss

UPDATE:  The original title of the post was The Tenents of Fat Loss.  As in “tenents,” a word that doesn’t even exist.  I meant to say tenets. My bad (and thanks to the 17 or so people who pointed out my mistake.).  There I go again making up new words!

I don’t claim to be an “expert” in anything.  Actually, that’s false.  I am an expert in somehow forgetting to clean all the dirty dishes in the sink before I leave for work every morning, much to my girlfriend’s annoyance.

Oh, and I can crush 90’s movie trivia.

But other than those two things, I don’t claim to be an expert in anything.

Which is why I’m amazed as to how often that claim – being an expert –  is tossed around. Especially in the fitness industry. I once had a 20 year old – Like, still an undergraduate 20 year old –  email me and claim he was an “expert” in lumbo-pelvic-hip anatomy and rehab.

Okay dude, calm down. How bout you pass Kinesiology first, and then we can talk.

And of course the internet is rife with Paleo experts, low-carb diet experts, kipping experts, heart rate variability experts, strength experts, body recomposition experts, experts, experts, experts.

Maybe it’s just me, but unless you’re a NASA rocket scientist, or a medical researcher, you’re not an expert, mmm kay?

Thanks to Dean Somerset for the hilarious pic!

Alas, we can talk all we want on what it actually means to be an expert – they do exist – whether it’s education, years of experience, real-world application of said education, but it’s not going to prevent people from putting the term into their bylines.

With that teeny tiny rant out of the way, I’m going to take a little time this morning and discuss fat loss.  More specifically what I feel are the main tenets, criteria, or components of effective, efficient, and long-term fat loss.

Note: I am not an expert (but I play one on the internet)

In my defense: while I don’t claim to be an expert, this isn’t my first rodeo, and I do train people – in person – on a daily basis, so I do feel that gives me some degree of credibility.

I guess the first point to tackle is to make the differentiation between fat loss and weight loss.

Weight loss is easy.

Don’t eat or drink for a day, go take a dump, cut off a limb……..SHA-zam, you just lost some weight.

Fat loss on the other hand, is a different ball game and takes a little more attention to detail.

Granted I’m playing with words, but it’s technically true.  I won’t belabor the point here, but if you’re interested I wrote on the topic of Weight Loss vs. Fat Loss HERE.

Some people do need to lose weight.  If we’re referring to a morbidly obese person, then I’m not going to be overly concerned with the ratio of muscle loss to fat loss. This discussion changes for someone who’s 50 lbs overweight – who runs the risk of developing a plethora of markers which can affect their health and well-being – as compared to someone who’s 8% body fat and four weeks away from a photo shoot or from stepping on stage.

For the sake of this blog post, lets assume we’re not referring to the morbidly obese person.

If that’s the case……

Make no mistake, regardless of the end game (photo shoot, content, or you’re just looking to bring sexy back), MAINTAINING AS MUCH MUSCLE MASS AS POSSIBLE – especially when dieting  – IS THE KEY TO FAT LOSS.

You do not want to sacrifice muscle mass.  Or, at the very least, you want to minimize its loss as much as possible.  More on that in the link I provided above.

Stealing a funny anecdote from my buddy, Mark Young, coach at Lean Body Consulting, the keys to physique improvement (in order of importance):

Makes a ton of sense to me, and I doubt there are many reputable fitness professionals who would disagree.  Although, admittedly, we LOVE to argue about the minutia.

Take nutrition for example.  Everyone knows – or, they should know – that in order to promote fat loss you need to elicit some sort of caloric deficit (calories in vs calories out).  It’s science, there’s a law to back it up (Law of Thermodynamics.  And yes, I realize there are 4, and one is called the Zeroth Law, which is snarky. For simplicity I’m referring to the 1st Law and maybe elements of the 2nd Law, and even then I understand that even those can be interpreted into a million and one different things. Why don’t you just get off your high horse, huh???), and I find it comical that people debate it as if they’re the one example unique flower in all of recorded human history to defy it.

Calories count

^^^^ I understand that the above article doesn’t make the distinction of fat loss vs. weight loss, and I also understand there are other variables that come into play, but I do feel that the first talking point comes down to how many calories someone is eating on a given day.

If someone isn’t losing weight/fat, the obvious starting point is a discussion on their nutrition and whether or not (s)he is ingesting too many calories.

If you have 20 or so minutes to spare you can check out the EPIC thread that started on my Facebook page with people arguing over the article HERE (just scroll down a bit).

As the saying goes:  you can’t out train a poor diet.

Dieting for fat loss can bite the big one at times. It sucks.  Some days you’re going to want to stab someone in the throat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B80r9rE-DXg

But it’s a moot point, I feel, to argue that a caloric deficit isn’t what’s needed or that calories somehow don’t matter so long as it fits your macros, yo!  Yes, other factors come into play once someone is already pretty lean, and looking to get leaner – meal timing, meal frequency, the interplay of hormones, even macros!

But for 90% of the people out there reading, 90% of the time, calories in vs. calories out matter.

And it should be said:  just telling someone to eat less and move more defeats the purpose and is borderline counterproductive. As fitness professionals it’s our job to educate our clients and to arm them with the skills necessary to succeed. It’s imperative that we teach them habits that will stick and help them not only get from Point A to Point B, but to stay there.

People aren’t dumb. They understand that crushing Taco Bell every night isn’t the best choice, and it certainly won’t help them attain their goal(s). It’s our job to figure out WHY they’re going to Taco Bell and to set up preventative strategies to help them avoid it.

It could be something as simple as outlining an alternate route home from work.  Or maybe it’s coaching them on better food choices. I don’t know, it could be dozens of things.  The point is: WE NEED TO DEVELOP HABITS.

And lets briefly discuss lifting heavy things.

As I noted above, the key to fat loss it to limit the amount of muscle loss.  What makes muscle, keeps muscle.

Lifting heavy things provides the stimulus the body needs to keep muscle.  One of the biggest mistakes I think many people make when following a fat loss plan is ramping up their training volume to ungodly levels.

The mentality that more is better takes over, and it’s just not true. I’m actually more of an advocate for dedicated strength training when dieting for fat loss.  Sure, other things like finishers, circuits, medleys and what not can help expedite the process….but for all intents and purposes, training should be geared towards MAINTAINING MUSCLE MASS. And low(er) rep, non-sadistic volume strength training is often the right course of action.

Not always, but kinda always.

In Closing

I’m in no way insinuating that my way is the only way, and I realize that this is a far-stemming topic that entire books, DVDs, and television infomercials have been dedicated towards.

I just wanted to hit on a handful of “big rock” talking points – namely, that calories do in fact matter and strength training is an often overlooked component – I feel are important to the discussion.

There are many, MANY other things tethered to fat loss – not to mention subcomponents that can (and should) be tweaked depending on one’s needs/goals/experience level/progress.

Have your own points to sound off on?  Share them below.

CategoriesExercise Technique Program Design Strength Training

3 Ways to Improve Your Squat

Among the many gems that I gleaned this past weekend during Greg Robin’s Optimizing the “Big 3” workshop was the notion that, contrary to popular thought, the purpose of supplemental work (or exercise) isn’t so much to make an exercise harder, but rather to address a some form of “kink” in one’s technique.

One such example would be deficit deadlifts. These are a very popular supplemental lift for those who are slow off the floor with their pull.  The i

dea being that by elevating yourself on some form of platform or elevated surface you increase the ROM the bar must travel, and thus make the lift harder (and build explosiveness off the floor).

Is that really what’s happening?

Think about it:  you’re decreasing the weight of the bar. If progressive overload is the rule to live by, how can taking weight off the bar help?

For the more visual learners in the crowd here’s a video of me pulling 505 lbs from a deficit to help.

Now, I’m not suggesting that performing deficit pulls – with lighter loads – doesn’t help with building explosiveness off the floor.  Rather, all I’m suggesting is a slight paradigm shift and change of view.

Performing deficit pulls forces me to address my TECHNIQUE!!  Honing my technique and addressing kinks in THAT is what’s going to help me pull more weight in the long run.

I naturally pull with my hips a bit higher than most people – it’s how my body is built.  I’m also very slow off the floor.  So is the increased ROM helping me be more explosive off the floor or is it the fact I’m forcing myself to dip a tad lower and engage my quads a bit more?

Note:  I admit this would be even more applicable if I were puling conventional.

Now lets direct the discussion towards squats and what supplemental (squat) movements help with improving our technique in that realm.

Paused Squats

Anderson (Deadstart) Squats

1-1/2 Squats

In my latest article on BodyBuilding.com I discuss all three variations and why they’re a good choice to help with your squatting performance.

Continue Reading………..

CategoriesMotivational Program Design Strength Training

How to Get Stronger

There are two types of people in the world: those who love Chipotle and those who hate it those who overanalyze E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G and those who don’t.

Photo Credit: Thomas Hawk

Take the philosophical question “what’s the meaning of life?” for example. Not to insinuate that this is a question that doesn’t deserve to be overanalyzed – admittedly it’s loaded and a question that’s pretty freakin deep – but it’s surprising how much of a dichotomy there is from person to person as to how it’s analyzed and thus answered.

Of course, the more introspective of us will dive into the existential components and gravitate towards a discourse of philosophy, religion, theology, science, the universe, as well as sub-components pertaining to one’s happiness (what makes someone “happy?”), spirituality (which may or may not include a God), social ties, morality, value, purpose, and a host of other equally important factors. Like kitten kisses and a Lord of the Rings marathon on TNT.

For the more critical and analytical in the crowd the meaning of life parallels that of Socrates where one should live a life of virtue and that which agrees with nature.

For someone else the meaning of life may revolve around the notion of “oneness” and developing a well-rounded relationship with oneself and with one’s surroundings (family, friends, environment, community, etc).

For the less analytical and for those people who tend to go with the flow, the meaning of life may be to make babies, have a lot of money, or, I don’t know, 2 for 1 pizza night at Papa Johns.

The point is: some people are deep thinkers (for better or worse), and some aren’t (for better or worse).

I’m not sure if the introduction above served as an appropriate segue (if you’re still reading I guess it did. I win!!!!), but when it comes to the topic of getting stronger I do feel many people fall into the trap of overanalyzing and making things more complicated than they need to be.

There are a million and one articles and blog post out there delving into the nuts and bolts of what it takes to get stronger – and 90% of them say the same thing.  What do they say?

Lift heavy shit, a lot.  Repeat.

Note:  yes, there’s a typo.  But who cares!  This is hilarious.

The fact of the matter is this:  if you want to get stronger it’s standard procedure to focus on “the big 3” – squat, bench press, deadlift – and to make those lifts THE HEART of your training approach and philosophy.

These movements generally allow you to use the most weight and there’s a reason why they’re the staples of most – if not all – successful training programs geared towards making people into animals:

5/3/1 – Jim Wendler

The Cube Method – Brandon Lilly

Building the Big 3 – Greg Robins & Eric Cressey

2×4 – Bret Contreras

The Texas Method – Justin Lascek

All of the above programs (or to put it more accurately, SYSTEMS) stress barbell training and progressive overload. No fluff and no fillers.

The knock against them is that they’re boring. To which I respond, “suck it up buttercup. Boring is what works.”

There’s something to be said about building a relationship with the barbell and spending time underneath it, pushing it, pulling it, and hoisting it over your head.

I’d argue that if more people just performed TWO barbell movements per training session and worked on perfecting their technique, and poured their heart and soul into those two movements that day, they’d see tremendous results.

It’s not a sexy approach, but it works.

So to recap:  the universal prerequisites to getting stronger are to focus on compound, multi-joint movements (preferably the big 3) and to try to lift move more weight in those lifts on a weekly, monthly, yearly basis.

We’re all on the same page, right?  Mmmmkay.  Moving on.

95.65% of me would like to end this post now. I’m definitely in the latter camp from above and prefer not to over-think things.

Which reminds me of a funny story.  Forgive me for going off-topic for a second.

One day I was spotting a buddy of mine on the bench press.  He was gearing up to travel abroad to play some professional football (American football) and was training pretty hard. He had something like 335 lbs on the bench press – give or take 10 lbs – and missed the lift.

He racked the weight, turned around and looked at me, and asked “dude, was my bar path off? Did my elbows flare out? Leg drive?  What?” He wanted a complicated answer.  All I said was “nah, it was just too heavy.”

Hahahahahahahahaha.

Trust me it was funny.  You had to be there.

We probably could have made an argument for all the things he brought up, but the simple answer was that, like it or not, gravity won.

And it’s on that note I wanted to offer a bit more insight other than the cliched “just lift something heavy” mantra that’s regurgitated time and time again on the internet.

1. Aim for Small Gains

Every Thanksgiving I go home and inevitably I’ll pile on more food than I can handle onto my plate. It’s the epitome of having my eyes be larger than my stomach.

In that same vein, far too often I notice people making overly ambitious training goals.

Don’t get me wrong it’s great to have goals, and I wish more people would take the time to write them down. Doing so gives people purpose in their training!  However, saying that you’d like to squat 600 lbs by the end of the year when you can barely perform a squat now without looking like a newborn baby giraffe is a bit of a stretch.

It’s like some guy saying “I WANT TO MAKE OUT WITH SCARLET JOHANNSON,” when all he’s ever done is practice on his pillow.

Calm down big guy and lets be a bit more realistic.

Squatting 600 lbs is cool and all, but why not just make a goal of perfecting your technique first? Then we can graduate to loftier things like a 2x bodyweight squat and then some!

Think about it this way: If you break a max by 5 pounds a month, that’s 60 pounds a year. If you keep doing that, you’re going to make some fantastic progress.

As the godfather of badassery and getting strong, Louie Simmons, states: “Stay focused, stay strong, stay patient. You’ll get there.”

2. Restoration and Recovery Matter

It sounds borderline counterintuitive – but you DO NOT make gains in the weight room. Lifting weights breaks down muscle tissue – that’s the point! – and serves as the stimulus for the body to repair itself and come back stronger.

If you’re not getting ample sleep, hitting up the foam roller here the there and working on maintaining adequate tissue quality, and/or taking precautions to RECOVER from your training (like including scheduled deload weeks)….then it’s all for not.

As the saying goes, fatigue will mask your true fitness.. You can’t consistently beat your body to a pulp and expect to make continued, long-term gains/progress.

Try this:  take an off day.  And by “off day,” I don’t mean perform a strongman circuit or head to the track and perform a bunch of 400m tempo runs.  I mean exactly what it implies.

Relax. Chill out.  Stay at home, fire up Netflix, and watch some 24 re-runs.

If you’re one of those people who shits a stability ball if you’re not in the gym on any given day, maybe try an ACTIVE RECOVERY day – this THIS one – where the objective is to move around a little, get the blood pumping, and to break a small sweat.

You don’t need to be running on all cylinders 100% of the time to make progress.

3.  Make Your Foundation Wider In Order to Gain Higher Peaks

This is a profound point that fellow Cressey Sports Performance coach, Greg Robins, hit on yesterday during his “Optimizing the Big 3” workshop.

The idea is this:  in order to hit higher peaks in strength, you HAVE to develop a wider base.

For beginner and intermediate trainees it makes little sense to spend time performing lifts in the 90% + range (of one’s one-rep max) and testing PRs when their PR isn’t that impressive in the first place.

Think of things in terms of a triangle:

To the right is someone who hasn’t spent a lot of time accumulating VOLUME in their training. Their base is fairly narrow, and hence their peak (I.e., strength) isn’t anything to brag about.

Conversely, to the left, is someone who’s spent a lot of time under the bar and has amassed more volume and frequency in their training.  As a result, their base is wider and peak is much higher.

Put another way:  how you get strong is by moving what you could originally do for 3 reps and perform it for 5.

What was originally your 92.5% 3RM is now 87.5%.

You can only do this by accumulating volume and by putting in the work. It’s not just going to happen.

4.  The Best Supplement?

What would a post on strength be without some sort of commentary on supplements!?

I had a high-school athlete walk up to me the other day asking me what I felt was the best supplement to take to get strong and to add on weight.

All I said was……….

CALORIES.

Calories is the best supplement.

He looked at me all perplexed. He was expecting me to go on some diatribe on creatine or protein powder or some Mass Gainer Hypertrophic Matrix 2000 Unicorn Antler Advanced Formula.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:  supplements are progress ENHANCERS not progress STARTERS.

If your current diet and training plan isn’t getting the job done, then the “x-factor” isn’t what supplements you’re not taking.

Your training is suspect or you’re not ingesting enough calories. Most likely it’s both!

See!  It doesn’t have to be so complicated.

CategoriesExercise Technique Program Design Strength Training

How to Train For Power

First off: Like, WHOA!

It’s been bonkers on the site the past few days. Tuesday’s post, An Open Letter to Everyone Who Has Told a Women “Don’t Get Too Muscular,” pretty much won the internet for a 48 hour stretch and has been getting a ton of positive feedback and commentary.

It’s by far been the most successful post in the history of this site – to the tune of 13,000 (and counting) “Likes” – and has been making the rounds via various social media outlets. People are sharing it left and right, and I couldn’t be more ecstatic. I don’t think if I posted a video of me arm wrestling Tracy Anderson (in space!) that it would go more viral than this article has.

I guess the lesson to be learned is that, when an outspoken, articulate, and strong woman such as Sophia goes out of her way to relay such a profound & powerful (and slightly controversial) message, people will undoubtedly listen.

Thanks again to Sophia for her contribution. And thanks to everyone who went out of their way to help spread the message.

And now that I’ve increased me female readership by 1017%…..

….it only makes sense that I switch gears, possibly decrease my female readership by 1013%, and discuss the topic of POWER!!  More specifically how to train for power.

Mind you, this doesn’t imply that women aren’t interested. They can benefit just as much as guys when it comes to training for and hence improving power output. It’s just that, you know, is there any more of a “manly” topic than the topic of power?

Think about it. Guys are seemingly obsessed with power.

How many guys go out of their way to buy a Prius? Most lean towards the sports car.  Unless you’re me and you opt for an Elantra. With spoilers!  But I digress.

Likewise, when it comes to movies, there’s a reason why most dudes opt for testosterone infused eye candy like the Fast & Furious franchise or Transformers in lieu of anything starring Julia Roberts or adapted from a Nicholas Sparks novel.

We want tanks, explosions, the occasional zombie apocalypse, and more explosions.

Not sappy dialogue and clichéd boy-meets-girl-lets-make-out-in-the-rain storybook endings.

Although to be fair: The Gossinator (Ryan Gosling) is the man.

Hell, as far as guys are concerned, whether we’re referring to power tools or drugs that give us more powerful erections, power is all around us, seemingly marinating our every waking moment.

Not coincidentally this mindset has many of its own parallels in the strength and conditioning realm.

In my latest article on T-Nation, I discuss what power training is (and isn’t) and how one can go about training it more effectively using protocols and movements that can be applied TODAY!

CONTINUE READING………..

CategoriesFemale Training Strength Training

Training Jane From Joe: Do Women Need to Train Differently Than Men?

SPOILER ALERT:  No. Women don’t need to train differently than men. Sometimes they should, however.  More on that below.

And speaking of spoilers – how many people stayed for the bonus scene after the end credits of Guardians of the Galaxy?

How many in the ballpark of my age (37) chuckled to themselves with the Howard the Duck cameo appearance?

Sooo funny/random, right?  And not to be out-stated, as a whole, Guardians was as nerdtastic as nerdtastic could be. I remember thinking to myself when I first saw the trailer a few months ago, “Yikes! How is Marvel going to pull this one off?  I think they might have bitten off more than they can chew.”

But kudos to them for yet again setting the standard for comic book movies. Epic fail on my end for doubting them.

So what has this got to do with training women?  Actually, nothing.  But for what it’s worth I gave the movie a solid 4.5 lightsabers out of 5.

Okay, for real this time.

The topic of female specific training is a dicey one to say the least. I think one of the reasons why I write about is so much and why I’m so passionate about it is because I find most (not all) women are misinformed.

Or to be more precise, are nudged towards a specific mindset at some point in their lives.

This was never more apparent than a conversation I had with a former female client of mine last year.  This client was a mom and a personal trainer herself.  She came to Cressey Sports Performance, like most trainers like her do, to hire someone else to do the thinking for her. For the record I’d recommend to ALL trainers to hire their own coach at some point!

As it happened, my client loved training at the facility and loved our approach to training female clients/athletes and eventually reached out to the local high-school where she lived to see if she could volunteer her time. She reached out to several of the coaches for the female JV and varsity teams, as well as the athletic director of the school (who also happened to be female and a varsity coach).

Long story short, the coach wrote back saying that getting any of the female athletes to come to the school-gym during their summer break was a pointless endeavor given that the weight-room had, in her words, “limited equipment that was ‘female friendly’.”

What the what!?!?!?!?!?!

She DID NOT just say that.

When my client told me that story I was dumbfounded!  With that sort of mentality and message being relayed to young, impressionable youth by adult “role models” is it any wonder that there’s a growing DECLINE in girls participating in sports?  And more to the point, can we be at all surprised why so many are programmed into thinking that girls don’t belong in the weigh-room, that just thinking about touching a barbell will make them grow an Adam’s apple, and that instead they should just focus on cardio, yoga, pilates, and Barre classes?

NOTE:  I have nothing against yoga, pliates, or Barre classes. Unlike a lot of fitness professionals who like to bag on certain modes of exercise, I’ve actually taken – and written about my experience – a yoga class and pilates class.

Any exercise is good exercise.

What I don’t agree with is how these classes are generally marketed towards women as some end-all-be-all panacea of health and fitness.  Based off the key words and promises many of these classes highlight – stuff like building “long, lean muscle” which is utter BS  – I’m surprised no one has elucidated on the benefits of bathing in unicorn tears to boot!!

But I digress.

I LOVE training women and female athletes for many reasons. For starters I think it’s rad when one of them hits a PR on a particular lift or achieves something they never thought possible – their first unassisted chin-up for example – and they end up having a “light-bulb” moment where they finally accept that they have just as much to gain from strength training as their Y-chromosome counterparts.

I love “deprogramming” them from the stagnant and life-sucking mentality many have been inundated with since junior high and high-school.  I love seeing the sense of confidence, empowerment, and freedom that blossoms once they understand that strength is a good thing and is something that should be embraced.

And while the saying states the girls are “made of sugar and spice and everything nice,” I can say without hesitation that some of the most tenacious and competitive clients I have worked with in my career are women.

Here’s distance coaching client, Sarah, cranking out a set of chinups. Yes, we can make the argument that she’s not extending her elbows at the bottom, but she called herself out on that when she sent me this video.  The point is, when we started working together last October the could perform ZERO

Here’s CSP bootcamper, Paula, crushing some KB swings as part of a finisher AFTER hitting up heavy deadlifts and squats earlier in the workout.

Yes, as some commenters posted on YouTube, she’s hinging early, blah blah blah. I appreciate the feedback (and I agree!), but it’s by no means an egregious snafu in her overall technique and is a far cry from a lot of the eye-wash “swings” other trainers and coaches post on their pages.

Regardless this is someone whose work ethic is outstanding and you’d be hard pressed to find anyone more competitive than her.

And here’s former client of CSP, Cara, hitting a challenging-but-not-nearly-as-heavy-as-she-could-go-deadlift at 33 weeks pregnant.

And before someone chimes in with a “holy crap Tony, are you insane for allowing a pregnant women lift that heavy?” comment, please read THIS.

Also, I can’t let this video slide without making a slight crack at the musical selection.  Kind of ironic, huh?……..hahahahahahaha x 10!

I don’t feel that women need to train differently than men, but I do think there are cases where they should train differently.

And it’s on that note I’d like to direct people to a presentation I recently filmed for Mike Reinold’s RehabWebinars.com:

Training Jane From Joe: Do Women Need to Train Differently Than Men?

It’s a 75 minute webinar that covers my general approach to training women. I discuss everything from initial intake/assessment to many of the progressions and programming strategies I implement to “specialty” scenarios like training someone through their pregnancy as well as covering some of the often glossed over psychological barriers that prevent women from stepping foot in the weight-room in the first place.

In addition I also cover such water-cooler topics as does weight training make women “big-n-bulky?” and why do people continue to listen to Tracy Anderson?

I feel this would be an excellent resource for any trainer or coach who works with female clients!

The cost is $19.95, but you’re not just purchasing the presentation itself.  You’re also gaining monthly access to ALL the content on RehabWebinars.com which includes dozens of hours of great contact from some of the most prestigious people in the fields of rehab, strength, and sports medicine.

If you pride yourself on continuing education and want to stay on top of the most relevant topics in the industry, this is one of the best ways to do so.

Click below to not only get access to my presentation, but over 100+  as well.  But mostly because of mine……..;o)

Training Jane From Joe: Do Women Need to Train Differently Than Men?

 

 

CategoriesProgram Design Strength Training

The Weakling’s Guide to Working Out

As you’ll undoubtedly see if you decide to read the entire article (and why wouldn’t you?), some trainees place the cart before the horse and make things more complicated than they have to be. Rocket science is hard. Long division is hard. Figuring out why women love Hugh Grant movies is hard. Lifting weights should not be hard.

I was asked by Stack Magazine to write an article aimed towards guys (but the message applies to women too!) who tend to have a hard time making progress with their exercise routine – namely their resistance training routine.

Or what I affectionally refer to as “lifting heavy stuff.”

To be candid, the message is nothing revolutionary and it’s probably one you’ve read or have been told time and time again. But it’s something that bears repeating, and frankly, despite how often it’s trumpeted, people somehow fail to allow the message to stick

Akin to how people continue to text while behind the wheel of a car or are constantly being told to put the toilet seat back down.

Yeah, kinda like that.

The Weakling’s Guide to Workout Out

NOTE:  as a small favor, if you liked the article on Stack, PLEASE share it through your social media outlets. If you didn’t like it, pffft, whatever….;o)

CategoriesExercise Technique Female Training Strength Training

How the Kettlebell Can Improve Your Deadlift

I had an interesting conversation with my good friend and fellow strength coach, Ben Bruno, not too long ago.

He and I like to catch up every now and then to 1) discuss our mutual affinity for JP Licks ice-cream and 2) talk some training and fitness shop.

He’s originally from New England and worked as a coach at Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning for a handful of years before moving out to LA last fall for a change of pace and to pursue some other opportunities.

His typical clientele now out in LA resembles a litany of Hollywood A-listers and a “who’s who” of gossip magazine covers, as well as those people who have a bit more of an aesthetic bias towards training.

While he loves LA and the people he works with, a small percentage of his heart is still back in Boston, working with athletes and helping people get strong.

In one of our last conversations he made the comment that there’s a stark contrast in training mentality between the west and east coast. But a little context comes into play.

Whereas at Cressey Sports Performance, someone nails a 400+ lbs deadlift and no one bats an eye, out in LA someone hits that same lift in a commercial gym and it’s assumed they’re on steroids.  And then given their own reality tv show!

Similarly, with regards to female training, and especially with regards to female celebrities and the “Hollywood” mentality as a whole (my apologies with the gross generalization here), barbell training is almost considered taboo.

Ben noted that whenever he’s tried to get some (not all) of his female clients to train with free-weights they were a tad skittish and reticent to place any appreciable load on the barbell.

Truth be told, while the tide is slowly turning for the better (more and more women are reaping the benefits of strength training. See: CrossFit), there’s still a “barbells are scary” vibe that pervades the female psyche.  It’s slight, but it’s still there.

Ben noticed a funny thing, however.  He noted that whenever he had his female clients use kettlebells they were more than eager to “get after it.” It was almost as if they didn’t think kettlebells counted as strength training.

Whether he had them squat, deadlift, push, pull, swing, carry, or anything else you can think of to do with a KB, seemingly, they’d be more than willing to do whatever Ben told them to do. And then some.

Plus, they’d do it with some heavy ass weight.

I too have noticed this same phenomenon with some of my past and current female clients. Ask them to perform a barbell deadlift and you’d think I asked them to shoot Bambi. Of course, this notion doesn’t surprise me when you have female professionals like THIS ONE telling everyone how dangerous deadlifts are.

Idiocy notwithstanding, switch to a KB deadlift and it’s on like Donkey Kong.

Lets be honest:  KBs are just a smidge less intimidating for some people (guys included), and they’re actually more useful and better than barbells in some cases.

I mean, not everyone has access to a state of the art gym and kettlebells don’t take up a lot of space, so they’re a fantastic option for quick and efficient home workouts.

In addition they’re great in terms of their versatility and “user friendliness” in general.

And get this……

The Kettlebell Can Actually Help Improve Your (Barbell) Deadlift

More to the point, the kettlebell swing can help improve your deadlift.

But before we get into the nitty gritty, it would behoove us not to at least discuss proper technique with the swing.

To that point I have two go-to sources.

1.  Iron Body Studios’ own Artemis Scantalides and Eric Gahan

2.  Neghar Fonooni

If you watched both videos (and why wouldn’t you?), you can see that both camps mirror one another in terms of how they coach and cue the swing.

With that out of the way, lets discuss how the KB swing can help improve your deadlift.

1. It’s All About the Hip Hinge, Baby!

The biggest mistake I see most people make with the swing is thinking that it’s more of a squat swing as opposed to a hip snap swing.

The swing, when done correctly, helps groove a rock-solid hip hinge pattern. And as any competent strength coach or personal trainer will tell you, the deadlift requires a ROCK SOLID hip hinge pattern.

This is non-negotiable.

Learning to push the hips back and engaging the posterior chain (namely hamstrings and glutes) during a swing will undoubtedly carry over well to the deadlift

 2.  Staying “Tight”

Look at this picture below of what the setup looks like for a KB swing.

Yeah, yeah the model is dashing. But other than that does anything look vaguely familiar?

It should, because it’s pretty much a dead-on image of what the set-up for a deadlift looks like (with the exception that with a barbell deadlift, the bar itself will be closer to the body and directly over the mid-foot, if not right up against the shins).

With the swing I like to cue one of two things to ensure tightness in the upper back:

1. Pretend like you’re squeezing an orange in your armpit and you’re trying to make orange juice.

2. Put your shoulder blades in your back pocket. This is a non-nerdy way of telling someone to posteriorly tilt their scapulae and to activate their lats (as well as the thoraco-lumbar fascia).

In short: promote more spinal stability.

Maintaining this “tightness” is key to the KB swing as well as a deadlift.

3.  Maximal Force Production

Remember above where I said the KB swing should resemble more of a hip SNAP.  That point cannot be overstated. 

The swing is an excellent way to help develop maximal force production. Think I’m full of it? Here’s what Strong First instructor and recent “I-made-the-Iron-Maiden-Challenge-My -Bitch” graduate, Artemis Scantalides, had to say on the matter.

“The purpose of the kettlebell swing is maximal force production.  Therefore, if the correct force is applied to an 8kg (~18lbs) kettlebell, that 8kg kettlebell can weigh up to 80lbs. 

If an 8kg kettlebell can weigh up to 80lbs with the correct force applied, imagine how much a 24kg (~53lbs) kettlebell can weigh if the correct force is applied??  

Subsequently, the kettlebell swing helps to improve deadlift strength because it allows you to use the lowest system load for maximal results. You are getting the most bang for your buck, by using less weight. 

As such, if you do not have a heavy weight available to you for deadlifts, then just do a few sets of perfect kettlebell swings and apply maximal force, and you just worked towards a stronger deadlift.”

Artemis: 1

Internet Gurus: 0

Final Thoughts

Kettlebells have a ton of merits, as I think we’ve covered. While they’ll never replace barbells for the big lifts, I like them because of all the ways they assist everything else. Obviously, they can help increase the deadlift, which I love.

I mean, being able to work on your deadlift when you’re not working on your deadlift? Doesn’t get much better than that.

But kettlebells are also an amazing tool for active recovery, conditioning, or just as the mainstay in any great home-based program. If you’re looking for an awesome program featuring kettlebells, there’s really no reason to look any further than Lean & Lovely, the new program from the aforementioned Neghar Fonooni.

It’s obviously geared towards women, but let me tell you, if you use a 28kg bell and do any one of the workouts, you’ll very quickly see how guys can benefit from every single page of the book.

It’s 12 weeks of dedicated program, 25 extra bonus conditioning type workouts, and a ton of other stuff.

Most importantly: something like 40% of my readers are actually other trainers. People look to this blog to find ways to get better for themselves and their clients; to become better at their jobs.

I take that responsibility very seriously–so when I say that I think Lean & Lovely is a resource that ANY trainer can use, I mean it. If you pick up just one coaching cue to teach the swing, it’s worth it. If you pick up just one new way to communicate more effectively with your female clients, it’s worth it. And if you read through the book and it gives you ideas you can use to design workouts, it’s more than worth it, 10X over. 

That’s the best part about continuing education. Small investments pay huge dividends. So, again, Lean & Lovely is pretty much a no brainer.

One final note, about “marketing.”

I caught some flak on Facebook the other day for recommending L&L. Which is crazy. It’s a good product, and one I think will help people. Does my article help move some units? I sure hope so. But consider this.

In the back end of my blog, my metrics indicate that, including this one, I have now published 1373 posts. Of those, if I had to take an educated guess, less than 30 have mentioned or “promoted” some type of program or product. Less than 30. That comes out to about 2.25%. And that isn’t counting any of my articles published elsewhere, which, like my blog, are a FREE resource.

So, really: it’s mathematically unarguable that I only “promote” stuff I believe in. Programs and products that I really and truly think will add value to my readers or the fitness community and industry over all. Lean & Lovely is absolutely one of those programs, so I absolutely feel comfortable telling your to order it. It’s as simple as that.

If that’s not cool with you…well, my bad.

CategoriesStrength Training

Girl Power: My “Go To” Sources for Female Training

Today I wanted to highlight some of the women in the fitness industry who I feel are the movers and shakers, and those I feel set a great example for other women to follow.  The one’s who “get it,” and don’t pander to the mainstream media.

And, speaking truthfully, the ones who place a premium on strength and could probably kick all our butts….;o)

Admittedly, all of the women listed are ones I know either personally or have interacted with over the years…..so if you want to call me biased, then so be it.

It’s by no means an exhaustive list and I could have easily added more – Sirena Bernal, Joy Victoria, Jen Comas Keck, Lauren Perreault, Christa Vancini Doran, Alli McKee, She-Ra, Xena Warrior Princess – but I wanted to keep this list as succinct as possible and give people (namely, other women) some resources other than Tracy Anderson and some lame Instagram account of a chick showing off her badonkadonk.

NOTE: If you click on each person’s name, you’ll be taken to their respective website.

NOTE II: If you happen to have your own suggestions, PLEASE share them in the comments section below.

NOTE III: I like turtles.

Lets go!

Nia Shanks

Nia and I go way back, and I’ve often referred to her as the ambassador of women’s fitness. It’s hard to argue that point given all she’s done for the industry in helping to empower women and encourage them to strength train.

On top of running her own successful blog/business (link above), producing high-quality products like The Lift Like a Girl Guide, and deadlifitng over 2.5x her own bodyweight, she’s easily one of the most down-to-Earth people I know and someone I have a ton of respect for.

Molly Galbraith

Molly is one of the co-founders of Girls Gone Strong, and not for nothing she’s probably stronger than you.  And by “you” I mean many of the guys reading.

She’s written several guest post here on this site, and most recently released one of THE best resources for women, The Modern Women’s Guide to Strength Training.

Yes, she’s beautiful and has that Southern charm…..but don’t for one second think she’d back down from a squat-off or an arm wrestling match.

Cassandra Forsythe

Out of everyone on this list, I’ve known “Cass” the longest. We first met back in 2004 when a group of random strangers from around North America who were members of a now long defunct fitness website – RuggedMag.com – decided to meet up in NYC for a weekend of protein shakes, fitness gossip, debauchery, and tickle fights.

Kidding on the tickle fights….;o)

As a quick aside, it was that very weekend that Eric Cressey and I met for the first time.  So, yes, as weird as it sounds, Eric and I met on the internet.

Anyways, Cass is one of the smartest and hardest working people I know. She runs her own gym, as authored numerous books – The New Rules of Lifting for Women and The Perfect Body Diet – and is also a renowned international speaker.

And, she has the mouth of sailor….;o) But only when talking face-t0-face.

Artemis Scantalides

All I have to say about Artemis is that my girlfriend, Lisa, loooooooooooooves her.  Actually, I have a lot more to say.

Artemis can kick your ass.  Fact.

Not only does she have a black belt in Kung-freakin-Fu, is both an RKC and Strong First instructor, but she can perform a Turkish get-up with the 28 kg (~62 lbs) kettlebell, which is half her bodyweight.  And she makes it look easy.

She’s also the co-owner, along with her SO (sorry fellas), Eric Gahan, of Iron Body Studios located just outside of Boston.  Lisa and I took several classes there this past winter and loved every second of it (you can read about it HERE), and plan on heading back in the near future.

Artemis isn’t a household name (yet), but she’s going to be.  I LOVE what she has to say concerning women and strength training.  Her recent post, Shoulders Are the New Cleavage – Revisited, is EXACTLY what more women need to hear.

Jen Sinkler

Who doesn’t love Jen Sinkler? She’s probably the happiest person in the history of ever.

A former member of the USA Women’s National Rugby team and fitness editor of Experience Life Magazine, Jen has quickly climbed the ranks as one of the “go to” sources for women’s fitness.

As much as she’s a fitness nerd, what I appreciate most about Jen is that she’s a LIFE nerd.

Name it, and she’s probably tried it. Elite athlete?  Check. CrossFit? Check. Olympic lifting? Check.  Kettlebells? Check. BOSU ball squats?  Lets not get carried away.

Nevertheless, her product, Lift Weights Faster, is an appropriate moniker for her lifestyle, and something I highly recommend checking out.

Kellie Davis

Kellie has a similar background to Jen (Sinkler) in that she too has an extensive history as a fitness writer/editor.  I LOVE her writing, because I feel it speaks to so many people on so many levels.

And, not for nothing, her book, Strong Curves, which she co-wrote with my buddy Bret Contreras, is one of the best mainstream female-specific training manuals written in the past five years.

Neghar Fonooni

What I respect about Neghar – other than her impeccable taste in men (she’s married to John Romaniello) – is that she takes a more holistic approach to health and fitness.  Yes, she advocates women to get strong, and yes, she hates Paleo Nazis like the next person, but she also speaks a lot about life, body image, and acceptance.  It’s a balance of everything that makes someone truly happy, and I dig that.

Julia Ladewski

Strength coach, competitive powerlifter, mom, and most recently, competitive figure competitor, Julia is jack of all trades.

Not only can she talk shop with regards to cleaning up and improving one’s squat technique, but she can also hit a killer lat spread.

Emily Giza Socolinksy

Many who are long-time readers of this blog will be very familiar with Emily because I’ve linked to several of her articles and she’s also written a few for the site.

She’s a former Barre instructor who turned to the dark side and ended up opening her own every successful gym in the Baltimore area (click her name above).

Emily just “gets it,” and she’s a no BS’er if there ever was one.

And there you have it, my list of “go to” female training sources.  Like I mentioned above, this isn’t an exhaustive list – so hopefully I didn’t offend anyone by omitting them – but if you have your own suggestions I’d love to hear them!

Leave them below in the comments section.

CategoriesProgram Design Strength Training

The Rule of 90%: 2.0

The rule of 90% can be applied to almost anything.

One of the best examples, with special emphasis to health and wellness, stems from Dr. John Berardi and the crew over at Precision Nutrition.

Simply stated, if you eat “clean” or follow the rules 90% of the time, good things tend to happen.

By focusing the bulk of your diet or nutrition plan on things like lean meats, vegetables, fruits, “healthy” fat, whole, minimally processed foods, going “off the grid” 10% of the time, and eating foods you enjoy – hello mint cookies-n-cream ice cream! – won’t really make that big of a difference in the grand scheme of things.

Life will go on, you’ll stay more consistent with your plan (and you’ll keep your sanity).

The Rule of 90% can also be applied to co-habitation (put the toilet seat down 90% of the time, and your girlfriend won’t strangle you) strength and conditioning, albeit in a different context.

I wrote an article on T-Nation.com what seems like eons ago (2006!) titled, coincidentally enough, The Rule of 90%.  Catchy, right?

In it I discuss how, if your goal is to improve maximal strength, it’s important to incorporate lifts at or above 90% of your 1-rep max.

Cliff Notes Version:  lifting maximal weight (90%+) has a number of effects:

1. Maximal number of motor units are recruited.

2. Fastest MU’s are activated (high-threshold motor units).

3. The discharge frequency (rate coding) is increased.

4. Activity is synchronous.

5. Potential for future hypertrophy gains (especially when you revert back to a “hypertrophy” specific training phase).

6.  While some argue whether or not the research is efficacious – it goes both ways – lifting heavy things helps to increase serum Testosterone levels.

7.  Girls will want to hang out with you (<=== it’s science).

How It’s Applied (Watered Down, Like A Lot)

Lets say someone’s bench press max is 275 lbs, and the goal for a particular training session is to hit 4 singles at or above 90%.  It may look something like this:

Bar x whatever

95 x 8

135 x 5

185 x 3

225 x 3

250 x 1

265 x 1 (feel good! Eff it, lets go for a PR).

280 x 1 (it was a grinder, but you got it).

From here, it’s important to note that ANY lift at 90% or above (275 lbs), counts.  Doing the math, that means any lift which was heavier than 247.5 lbs.

So now we have ONE more single left.  I’d opt for a clean rep with good bar speed.

260 x 1 (Nailed it! Lets go pound a protein shake).

The Rule of 90%: 2.0

Hitting lifts that are 90% or above one’s 1RM isn’t something I’d recommend for beginner or even most intermediate lifters.  It takes a lot of experience and “time under the bar” to get to the point where handling that much weight is safe.

To that end, this approach IS NOT something I advocate for those with little training experience (lets say less than a year of consistent, no BS training).

However, that doesn’t mean we can’t still apply the principles to great affect.

Something we implement a lot at Cressey Performance (because we don’t go out of our way to test 1RM right off the bat) is the idea of ramping up to a 3 RM (rep max) – for that day – and then using the same approach as above, hitting a certain number of sets at or around 90%.

There’s a fair bit of autoregulation and “feel” involved, and results will vary depending on one’s status for that day, but it gets the job done.

I’ll simply have someone work up to a challenging triple (set of 3) for that day, and then once they hit it, aim for “x” number of sets at or slightly above 90% of THAT number.

Lets stick with the bench press. Goal is to hit 4 sets at or above 90% of 3RM.

Bar x whatever

95 x 5

135 x 5

185 x 3

225 x 3 (bar speed is still good)

245 x 3 (starting to slow up, but still passable)

265 x 3 (last rep was a bit of a grinder. We’ll use this as our marker or “top set” for the day).

Doing the math, 90% of 265 is 238.5.  So, any lift above that counts (245 and 265, respectively).

As always, I’d opt for clean, fast reps from here and would encourage someone to stick in the 245-255 range for their last two sets.

And That’s, That

Hopefully that makes some sense, and, of course, this is a strategy that could be applied to all the “big lifts” (squat, deadlift, bench press, chin-up, rows).  Tricep kickbacks are off the list.

Too, I’d be conservative with how often it’s applied.  1-2 sessions per week would suffice (maybe use it for one lower body movement, and one upper body movement), but once a week would be a nice option for most.

Week 1: ramp up to a 3RM deadlift, hit 3-5 sets at 90%+
Week 2: ramp up to a 3RM bench press, hit 3-5 sets at 90%+
Week 3: ramp up to a 3RM squat, hit 3-5 sets at 90%+

Week 4: ramp up to a 3RM deadlift (try to beat your previous number), hit 3-5 sets at 90%+

So on and so forth.

All in all, I find this is a much more “user friendly” way to implement the Rule of 90% and something that most trainees could easily implement into their training.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes!